Sunday, February 17, 2019

WHIZZING -- SUPER BLOOM -- PREZ CANDIDATES


Life is whizzing along here even though my personal speed would better be described as a mite slower than a whiz.   We’re having one rain storm after another at my elevation -- but snow continues covering the surrounding mountains creating a picturesque scene.    Storm damage has blocked access to Mt. Baldy, a recreation area above my city. 

The L. A. Times provides some revealing photos and links of other ski and snowboarding areas popular with So Cal residents.

I do regret what residents are experiencing who live further away from me that you may have seen featured in news stories.  Many are reported to be having “evacuation fatigue,” at home between storms, then being told personal safety requires they leave their home one storm after another.      

Those communities  are being subjected to flash floods washing out roads, sweeping away soil and buildings, destructive mud slides where the fires devoured hillside vegetation, beaches and structures eroded  – all threatening homes and lives.   Even in some otherwise unaffected areas the soil has become so saturated that long-standing trees are unexpectedly uprooted, falling onto cars and houses even after storms, resulting in lives lost.    Mostly,  none of this destruction is occurring in the general area where I live.   

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Family living in the Midwest Great Lakes area and on the East Coast are reaping the consequences of stormy weather we send their way, plus they report experiencing what sweeps down from the north to be Antarctic-like. 

One family group reports the understatement of the year, that their weather had been a bit “brisk”, but my young grandson delights in having snow days with no school.    Further east, that family group relishes being in a bit of a pocket protecting them from the worst of the weather seen further north in D.C. and Boston, but still unusually icily freezing.  

Unfortunately, my granddaughter, working and needing to study for professional certifications, was incapacitated for the second time this season by some “bug” thriving in that weather  --despite her having had the flu shot.  Why are such “bugs” so hardy and we humans aren’t?

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Super Bloom is the Spring promise all this rain brings us.    A very few of my various Poppies are beginning to flower in the parkway.   Wild flowers blooming en masse after these winter rains on what has appeared to be barren desert through our dry years is a spectacular sight to behold.   I unexpectedly enjoyed such a colorful vision one spring, years ago in Arizona.  We can expect such blooms this year in our  Southern California landscape.  

This Death Valley Super Bloom from 2016 from a YouTuber provides a view of what we might see.


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Cautionary alert for the politically sensitive.....

More and more candidates are declaring an intent to run for President in 2020.   Clearly no one person will meet the criteria desired by everyone.   Judging by our last national election’s results we may be lucky if the candidate receiving the majority of votes doesn’t get thwarted again by the Electoral College putting in office the person receiving the least votes.  

Perhaps to effectively compete all political parties should field a similar type unqualified candidate,  much like the one we have in office now, unless enough voters have concluded a change is needed.

A friend has sarcastically suggested voters should seek a Used Car Salesperson to be their candidate.   That profession is too frequently scapegoated and maligned in my view.    Many of their practitioners are of much higher ethical and moral quality than the person occupying the WH presently appears to demonstrate.    I tend to think we should give consideration to a showy “flim flam” person, perhaps a mesmerizing evangelical-like cult-type leader who asks only that we trust him or her and believe everything they say -- made-up statistics, blatant lies and all. 

We could resurrect from the past the “snake oil” salesperson who travelled the rural areas with his cart of magic potions, rather than our choosing even an ordinary “con man” of today for which some might be willing to settle.  Of course, today the cart some use has been replaced by Twitter and Facebook. 

Almost daily I hear of another Prez candidate coming out of the woodwork -- hints of more expected to emerge.   There truly will be someone to appeal to every possible group in our nation.  I do hope the votes aren't so split that we end up with some incidental group the sum of all our other groups would never have elected.  Our current leader has made people realize that just any ol’ person could be elected, so those from all walks of life are going to make a run at the office.  

I have no comments to make about any of the candidates presently --  preferring to wait to see how this all shakes down – who’s left after the sifter is shaken.   But I’m not too keen on millionaires as they seem to be more focused on self-interest, if our current leader’s apparent operation is any indication.  My best thought presently is that we might consider selecting a homeless person who needs a job and place to live to occupy our White House.   Whadda you think?

24 comments:

  1. It'll be interesting to see who all the presidential hopefuls are, and even more interesting to see if Trump finally gets ousted by someone else. The declaration of a state of national emergency is totally ridiculous.

    Here in the UK of course things are getting really fraught now that we're due to leave the EU on March 29 and there's still no consensus among MPs on whether they want to leave with no deal, leave with Theresa May's deal (which has already been rejected once) or stay in the EU. European leaders are totally stunned by the deepening chaos.

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    1. I've been interested in what has been happening with Brexit as I was astounded the UK chose to leave the EU. I've had the impression almost from the beginning that people never thought that would happen and more may be having regrets. Maybe I'm wrong, but they don't seem to know how they can stay in the EU since there is that group that wants out. I do understand the fear and challenge the EU can be seen as presenting -- nations wanting to retain their distinct national identify and control, which is true in the U.S., too. How to build and maintain world order, cooperation and support among disparate nations without losing some individual independence? I do hope a solution is reached.

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  2. Norway never went into the EU but seems to do fine with travel and trade (supposedly the EU's purpose in the beginning). I feel it went too far into regulating and wanting that one world order. The ones I know who are British didn't want to leave it. But I also know a woman in the Netherlands who hates the EU and the limitations it has put on her for health issues; so who knows

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    1. There are usually pros and cons to every proposal. Excessive regulation is often a concern, or one size fits all which is what we have to monitor on all of our govt. programs and corporations will sometimes exercise, too, I think.

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  3. I've been worried for the people in California weather-wise. More so because the president seems to think disaster relief money is up for grabs to redirect towards his silly wall.

    I don't like the fact that our Democratic field is growing so big. I hope it gets pared down quickly. I wish some challengers woulds show up against Trump. It's scary what's happening to our government.

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    1. I share your concerns on political candidates. Meanwhile, hope the power stays on, you stay warm and the water keeps flowing from the spigots.

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  4. A homeless guy or gal just might be the ticket. I can't believe how many are throwing their hats into the ring. Hey, why don't you or I announce?
    Seriously I have always thought that any person wanting to be president should have a complete psych evaluation. No one who really wants the job can be all there.

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    1. Run, Baby, run seems to be the mantra of many. Some sort of mental evaluation might be in order, but with our current guy he told us and showed his issues, but that escaped or seemed not to matter to a surprising, to me, number of people.

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  5. The big news stations seem to ignore all this important news of what happens with climate change and the financial and emotional toll it will continue to take in the decade ahead. I am studying the many candidates. Those that capture my interest I am buying their books and following their Internet presence.

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    1. You will be really well-versed. There are so many, I’m following only lightly until we get closer to the various Party selection times.

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  6. I think that Howard Schultz doesn't need anymore air-time. No, no billionaires, thanks very much!

    Tons of Dem contenders are coming out of the woodwork. Some are intriguing. I'm keen to see how Kamala Harris performs out on the trail.

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    1. Perhaps more candidates will emerge to contest in the Repub. Party, but most seem to have instead retired from their offices and politics.

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  7. Haha. Well, a homeless person as president would not be respected by anybody including Putin, Xi, and Kim. Money talks and bullshit walks.

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  8. I keep hearing that all of these candidates will just ensure that the 45 will be reelected. Spoiled for choice. More will be revealed I guess. Politics is a nightmare everywhere (not just USA).

    XO
    WWW

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    1. With our two Party political system, any third Party or more candidates on the final ballot can be “spoilers”, siphoning off votes from either of the other two candidates, thus allowing the other to be elected. Some might say Bernie Sanders candidacy did that to Hillary Clinton in previous election contributing to allowing a person who even received less than the majority of the popular vote to assume office. Most of these Dem candidates will likely be winnowed out, but who, how many and those that may run in other Parties can have significant bearing on who actually gets elected. “Dirty tricks” could have funds pouring in to support a third Party candidate with the intent of upsetting the election to install an undesirable candidate the majority of our voters will not have voted for.

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  9. Politically, life isn't boring. The weather: Boy are we wet down here. We had two inches last year, and we have had 11 this year...plus what ever arrives in the next few days.

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    1. Yep! More rain here, too, in the foothills and since no adverse effects I’m lovin’ it. In fact, snow supposed to be so low tonight we might even see a few flakes. Has only happened once before since we’ve lived here.

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  10. The state of national politics now means that you have to have very deep pockets and connections to deep pockets in order to run successfully. It takes literally billions of dollars to become President. Thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court Decision ("corporations are people"), even massive small-donation efforts won't really get it done.

    And 45* won't get a challenger from his party--that's just not done in party politics. The incumbent doesn't get a challenger--bad for the party. Unless the Mueller Report takes him down (IF ONLY), he'll run unopposed by a party challenger because the republican party won't fund another republican.

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    1. Very troubling, that’s for sure. Dems will defeat themselves if not careful and go for ideas too extreme.

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  11. I suspect Trump will sail through his parties nominating process as his base is significant in primary voting. The Dems are dangerously close to fubaring everything if they are not careful as they are swinging much too far to the left. The next generation that seems to embrace that lefty lean is nmot yet IMHO ready to assume the responsibilities of governing and will likely not turn out in sufficient numbers to actually win but they may well assure no other Dem can get sufficient numbers assuring another Trump win.

    Cold and rainy these days in NC.

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    1. Political climate in NC pretty stormy, too, with your Governor contest — election tampering and process to be repeated, requiring another Primary as I understand the situation.

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  12. I like your idea of the homeless person. :D In the meantime I continue to learn about history to put things in perspective. I wonder what will be remembered in a hundred years and what will be glossed over or not even mentioned. The world will be completely different then.

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    1. Yes, not only what will be remembered, but how it will be reported/interpreted.

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